Hydrogen Economy: Not So Difficult—Without Nuclear Power

Amory B. Lovins challenges the claim that a U.S. hydrogen economy requires a fourfold expansion of nuclear power. He argues that fuel cells will accelerate the decline of nuclear power by providing cheaper energy services. Lovins asserts that the hydrogen needs for the U.S. highway vehicle fleet could be met by wind turbines in North and South Dakota, and that an orderly transition to hydrogen would require less capital, land, and fossil fuels than a business-as-usual oil-based scenario. He further contends that wind power is more cost-competitive than new nuclear plants and that distributed energy resources offer greater economic value than centralized power stations.

• The hydrogen requirements for the U.S. highway vehicle fleet, estimated at 50 MTlVy if efficiency gains of 5x for light vehicles and 2x for heavy vehicles are achieved, could be supplied by wind turbines located in North and South Dakota.
• Wind power is significantly more cost-competitive than new nuclear power for hydrogen production via electrolysis; wind power sold for $0.025/kWh in 2003, while projected costs for new nuclear plants ranged from $0.042/kWh to $0.067/kWh.
• The growth of wind power capacity is outpacing nuclear power, with 2002 installed capacity increasing from 24 to 31 GW, which is double the global average annual increase for nuclear power during the 1990s.

APA

Lovins, A. B. (2003). Hydrogen Economy: Not So Difficult—Without Nuclear Power. RMI. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_E03-06HydrogenEconomyNotSoDifficultWithoutNuclearPower.pdf

Chicago

Lovins, Amory B. Hydrogen Economy: Not So Difficult—Without Nuclear Power. RMI, 2003. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_E03-06HydrogenEconomyNotSoDifficultWithoutNuclearPower.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lovins |first1=Amory B. |title=Hydrogen Economy: Not So Difficult—Without Nuclear Power |publisher=RMI |date=23 August 2003 |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_E03-06HydrogenEconomyNotSoDifficultWithoutNuclearPower.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lovins2003hydrogen, author = {Lovins, Amory B.}, title = {{Hydrogen Economy: Not So Difficult—Without Nuclear Power}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2003}, month = aug, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_E03-06HydrogenEconomyNotSoDifficultWithoutNuclearPower.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }